Improved railway-rail splice



W. .E. HENRY. Railroad-Rail Joint.

N0. 92,310. Patented July 6, 1869.

, dinitcd finder stunt d9jlflinc,'

WILLIAM E. HENRY, OF

JOLIET, ILLINOIS.

Letters Patent N 92,310, dated July 6, isco.

IMPROVED RAILWAY-RAIL SPLICE.

Theschednlo referred to in these. Letters Patent andmaking part of thename.

reference being bad to the annexed drawings, making a part of thisspecification, in which- Figure '1 is a perspective view of the tworails joined together by the device;

Figure 2, a perspective view of the grooved plate a;

Figure 3, a perspective view of the strip between the grooved plate aand the continuous washer c and Figure 4, a perspective view of thecontinuous wash- It is well known that-the old method of connecting orjoining railroad-rails at the ends, by means of a plate on either sideof the rails, over the joint, with bolts passing through, has been quiteinetlicient in this, that the continual jar and rattle of the trainspassing along overptlie rails, cause the nuts on the bolts to workloose, so that in a little while the bolts fall out, letting the platesfall down, and the rails left entirely disconnected and apart. i

My invention consists in a device or method of preventing the nuts fromgetting loose on the bolts, and of course preventing the plates fromgetting loose at all.

I have found that by placing a strip of some elastic or partiallyelastic'substance between the plate a and the continuous washer c, itwill effectually prevent the nuts from working loose on the bolts,because the shock to the rail by a passing train is not imparted to thenut in so great a degree as when the elastic strip is not used, becausethen all is rigid and unyielding, and if the nut gets loose at all itwill almost invariably get entirely on"; while when the elastic strip isused, if the other bolt-i.

nut happens to work a little loose, the elasticity of the strip holdsthe washer out against the nut for some distance before they areentirely separated; and so long asthcy are .in contact, the washer, in avery great degree, prevents the nut from turning.

In order to use the elastic strip 1), and keep it in place, Icuse thegroovedplate a to receive the strip.

This grooved plate may be used on both sides of the rails, if necessary,but usually the ordinary plated on one side. is sufficient. v V

The elastic strip may be'of any elastic substance, but ordinarily eitherwood or rubber is sulficient.

In place of the ordinary washer, I use a continuous washer, as long as.the plates a and (I, for the reason that if one nut or bolt shouldhappen to get loose, the washer on that bolt will not, in jinglingabout, assist in getting the nut entirely ofl, for it is held firi'n bythe strip 1).

The plates at and d and washer c are held together 1 firm to the sidesof the rails, as shown in the drawings, by the bolts 0, with nuts-on theends.

Claim.

Having thus described my invention,

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The railway-rail splice',' consisting of the bar (1,

Witnesses 'lnos. H. HUTCHINS, W. J. Hummus.-

It also serves to hold in place the elastic

